Escape Plan

(Bai Ziye)

"I specifically connected your mind to this debugging system to avoid the omnipresent eavesdropping and surveillance. If I show the slightest disloyalty, I'll be swiftly and decisively eliminated, snap."

He chopped my dog on the head with a chop.

Since the higher-ups don't trust the witch, such vigilance is understandable... However, I haven't seen any camera-like devices in this world. Could it be that there are surveillance methods invisible to the naked eye?

If so, it would explain why I was discovered by Fomalhaut.

Aldebaran continued, "Besides, Betelgeuse and Fomalhaut are both genuine witches, Monster by their own standards. They wouldn't join me in a rebellion. If I dared to bring this up with them, they could chop me up in a heartbeat... I'm no match for them. As I've always said, I'm just a powerless researcher."

After she finished speaking, she waited for my reaction.

Even the hands that were touching me stopped.

"I don't fully trust you yet, and I find it hard to agree with the idea that ordinary people are being used as stepping stones."

"I will prove it to you with my actions. Besides, you don't need to do anything, and you don't need to tell anyone. The more people who know, the more dangerous it is for me... There are still spies left behind by A-Ji within the Association. Of course, I don't know who they are. Spica should also know about their existence, but he just can't find them. The organization is just too big."

Hidden agent...

Does it refer to an inside agent?

Given Ceruno's cautious nature, it's not surprising that he left behind a spy.

The Skyborne City School, which only allows magical girls to enter, is perhaps the solution SpiCa came up with. This school was definitely not designed as a place only magical girls could enter. The reason for changing the rules to this is to prevent internal treachery and to establish a "Magical Girl Autonomous Organization" independent of the Association's existing system.

But what if there's a traitor among the magical girls?

"It's about time."

Aldebaran poked my dog nose one last time.

"Although this method won't be monitored, a connection that lasts too long will still arouse suspicion... Listen carefully to my next instructions!"

Nod your dog head.

"After you wake up, I will tell Fomalhaut that I am very interested in your Star Crystal and want to take you to the laboratory for a detailed examination. The laboratory is not far from the Wormhole Device in this factory. Listen carefully to the sound of the Wormhole Device activating, use your high speed to rush Past, catch the next wormhole home, and take care of the Monster that were sent Past as well."

That sounds reasonable.

What will I face?

"Fomalhaut might come with me to the lab. There might be a clone of Betelgeuse guarding the Wormhole Device. And there's that woman named Anjie in the lab. Leaving her here will definitely be one of your problems."

Whether she stays here or goes back to Earth, she won't have any freedom.

"I know what to do."

"I don't care what you do, but you can't let her drag you down."

"Yes, I know what I'm doing."

"Then let's discuss it in detail..."

"Ooh!"

Reconnecting to my body, the first thing I felt was pain in my back. Where was the anesthesia?

This real pain is completely different from those fake sensations I just experienced.

Aldebaran grinned and said, "With such powerful Crystal, you can't even endure this little bit of pain?"

Of course, in reality she still has the appearance of a short, petite girl.

What exactly do you want to do?

"I'm very interested in your Crystal. Crystal that size must be unique, right? And it can absorb that person's energy. What's the principle behind that?"

"..."

I don't know what to do so that people won't realize I'm an actor; perhaps silence is the best response.

"Fomalhaut, I'd like to take her to the lab for an X-ray... Okay... then I'll have to trouble you to come over."

Then she made a telepathic call to Fomalhaut without needing a cell phone.

If this is also magic, then I want to learn it to save on monthly rent...

The interrogation room door was pushed open again, and Fomalhaut frowned unhappily as he looked at the bloodstains on the Fomalhaut and walls.

"Aldebaran, can you please stop being so rough?"

"Ha, we'll talk about that later~ You have no idea how special this guy's Crystal is. I've never seen anyone so synchronized with their Crystal!"

Fomalhaut frowned, then placed her hand on the wound on my back. Familiar magic surged into my body, Aldebaran healed rapidly under her touch.

Hmm? It doesn't hurt anymore.

"... Thanks."

Although she was an enemy, this was the second time she had healed him.

"No need to thank me. I didn't do this for you. I already said that your body and the Crystal are important materials... I'm doing this to protect these valuable materials!"

The white-haired girl's arrogance is palpable.

Then, she handcuffed me with ice handcuffs, and then hoisted me onto her not-so-broad shoulders...

"Fomalhaut, I can walk by myself."

"Don't speak, you're just material."

Among all the witches, I don't dislike this deer girl who has a knightly air about her.

However, she had some complaints about me.

I know she's looking forward to a fair one-on-one match, even though that's not fair to me.

Fomalhaut carried me like a water carrier, following behind Aldebaran as they left the interrogation room.

This posture is very advantageous to me.

By making close contact, I can slow down her time to its limit in an instant, thus buying myself time to escape.

Perhaps because the distance wasn't far, this time no teleportation magic was used, nor were my eyes covered, so I was able to see the interior of this factory.

Just as Ceruno guessed, this was a production line for mass-producing Monster, but the unawakened, half-finished Monster hanging on the line made it look more like a pig slaughterhouse.

"Are all the Monster created here?"

I asked that question, but no one answered me.

"Were you also produced here?"

This time, Fomalhaut did respond, or more accurately, refute.

"Of course not, we're not mass-produced products on an assembly line. Witches have their own testing grounds."

But what about the Natives of this world?

Upon closer inspection, those soldiers in armor were merely lower-level Monster who wore standard equipment to bolster their combat capabilities.

Those residential towns outside the factory are also uninhabited. Did they ever have owners?

Natives disappeared;

This world is heading towards destruction;

And that sleeping "Great Will";

The mystery, which was thought to be solved once they arrived on the 'The Other Side,' only became more perplexing.

"Arrive."

Aldebaran pushed open the laboratory door.

Anjie was bound hand and foot and restrained on a terrifying device resembling an electric chair, with various electrodes inserted into her head and body, a truly gruesome sight.

"That's just Aldebaran's wicked sense of humor; I don't like it."

Fomalhaut suddenly spoke up to explain.

It was as if they were trying to comfort me, or as if they were afraid I would misunderstand something...

Aldebaran hand, put on medical gloves, and pulled a surgical trolley from behind him, a chilling smile on his face.

"Then, let's begin the experiment."

I'm starting to panic.

Was she just acting, or did she really intend to do something to me?